


Lonely Boy

by thereddame



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fake Science, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Kid Fic, M/M, Multiverse, OT3, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Civil War (Marvel), Slow Burn, Superfamily (Marvel), Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-21
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-21 01:30:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12446520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thereddame/pseuds/thereddame
Summary: Tony gets a visit from a Tony from a different universe and she needs him to help keep her children safe until Girl-Tony can kick some HYDRA ass. She's being pretty tight-lipped about the father but he's got a sneaking suspicion it's Steve. Hey, maybe he can get the 'best babysitter in the universe' award after this?





	1. Chapter 1

Tony wakes to the sound of an alarm blaring. 

It takes him a moment to completely wake-up despite the sharp sound. He's exhausted and disoriented from these last few weeks taking too much from him. When the alarm finally comes into focus for him, he immediately notices that it's not coming from his phone or alarm clock-- both of which are sitting innocently on the table next to his bed. He manages to get himself upright and out of bed as Friday tells him that there is an intruder in the workshop. How did someone bypass all of the security only to be detected in the lowest level of the tower? 

Being hyper-alert is an understatement at the moment and the fear in Tony's throat is impossible to categorize and even harder to swallow. Friday, his girl, reads off the heat signature and whatever else she can determine in the workshop but she's having a hard time with the readings because whatever has overtaken his lab has probably blocked her sensors, too. Tony can't even be proud for the very human sound of frustration in her voice when she tells him that she's being denied access. 

Tony is the only one in the tower now-- the Accords having done their damage-- and so he is alone as he suits up. He misses the reassuring sound of his teammates before a battle. What he wouldn't give to hear Clint making jokes and teasing Bruce for some reason or another. Hell, he even misses Cap's speeches at this point. Tony always said he wasn't "team material" but now he's all nerves because of the silence in truly being _alone_.

“Friday, what's the status?” Instead of her lilting accent, he gets only silence. Tony curses softly under his breath and moves to the lab doors so he can key in the manual override. Friday must be compromised. Who the hell is in his workshop? When his face-plate and helmet finally clicks together, he prepares for the doors to swish open which reveal … another Iron Man? 

Tony's repulsor are up in defense mode the moment he sees familiar red and gold. 

“Sentient suit? Friendly? Hacker? Skynet? GLaDOS? What's the gig?” He falls into nonchalance easily despite his pulse racing with nerves and the feeling of being exposed without Friday and his team. Thankfully, nonchalance has been his default setting since the Accords. Maybe since Howard. 

The Iron Man suit across from him only laughs in response to the question. Just like Tony's laugh, this Iron Man's laugh sounds vaguely mechanical through the synthesizer. Tony is wary, as he should be, and he doesn't drop his defensive gesture. 

“Okay, cool. Going back to the sentient suit theory. P.S., I don't do the weird evil villain laughter so if you're trying to fool people then that shtick not going to work. Free tip from Cosmo. The magazine, actually, not the fairy--” 

The suit gives another laugh though this one is softer and almost fond. That's a strange thought because no one is _fond_ of Tony's ramblings except maybe Pepper. Pepper indulges him.

“At least we are pretty consistent throughout the multiverse. Big talkers," the suit finally speaks but pauses and takes a look around before adding a halting, “where the hell is your team? Are you still consultation only or what, right now? Where am I in your timeline?” 

Wait, what? “What?” He snaps irritably. 

The suit tilts its head and watches Tony for a moment as if putting heavy thought behind its next words. “Your team. The Avengers?” 

“Fucking Siberia. I don't know. They made it clear that I wasn't welcome so I took my Rhodey and went home.” 

“Si… beria.” The suit asks slowly as if it doesn't comprehend at first but then a silence settles over the suit. “Civil War. This is a Civil War universe. Fuck. Which one died? Not you, obviously.” 

He shouldn't feel anything but Tony has never been very good at lying to himself so he feels the sharp, visceral pain of loss. Someone on his team, in another universe, died because of him and because of _this._ Tony feels helpless and his own armor is the only thing that keeps him locked in place. When is he going to get this right? The other Iron Man suit watches his moment of weakness silently and Tony has a sneaking suspicion that his reaction is not a secret between himself and an offline Friday. 

“No one died,” he says. He doesn't think of JARVIS. Doesn't think about those civilians. Or his parents. Pietro. 

The Skynet suit seems to relax just a bit as if it was waiting on some very bad news. “Okay, that's good. This is good. We can work with that--” 

“Wait, we aren't working with _anything,_ you crazed bot--” 

"Tony wait--” The suit’s mask slides away (dissolves really and that isn't _his_ tech but he _wants_ it to be) and reveals a woman who looks familiar to him somehow. “It's me or, rather, I'm you but, you know, without the dangly bits.” 

Tony, despite all the adrenaline from the whole ordeal, actually laughs. Granted, it's actually more on the hysterical side of laughter but he hasn't laughed this hard in months. His whole body shakes with the desperate need to release something. Maybe it's borderline hysterical and the last grasp for humor because a lot of recent events have been decidedly unfunny lately. 

“Okay, let's go for broke and buy a vowel Alex… female me? You said something about multiverse. Catch me up. I'm a fast learner.” Tony's face-plate lifts as he speaks. The motion isn't nearly as seamless and perfect as Girl-Tony's but it gets the job done. 

She smiles at him warmly. It makes him uncomfortable. 

The smile she gives him doesn't look like it would belong on his face. There's something about her easy openness that belies a lack of something or some event in her life that was so clearly in his own-- and he's not talking about anything recent like the Accords. Her freedom comes from something deeper on an “early development” sorta level. 

“I know you're a fast learner,” she agrees. “So, know what a multiverse is?” She pauses long enough for Tony to nod in agreement. “Great. So, in my universe, Stevie and I run the Avengers. I didn't do so great with the whole 'consulting' gig so I weaseled my way onto the team instead.” 

As she speaks, the suit finishes doing it's super sexy dissolving trick that Tony really wants to replicate. She steps into the light so he can fully see her. She's short, like him, with dark brown hair pulled up in a neat ponytail and her bangs curled and carefully styled to the side. He idly wonders if she's doing more with “Stevie” than leading the Avengers. At least the rest of her is so very Tony that he doesn’t really feel the need to take a blood sample anymore-- she’s wearing fitted jeans with a tank top and a telltale blue glow in the center of her chest. Ah, so the arc reactor must be a constant throughout. As he inspects her, she is busy rattling off the members of the Avengers and he notes that there is an absence of Spider Man on the roster but the inclusion of one Winter Soldier.

“Anyway, that’s pretty much the roster. And Deadpool but he’s 'the big guns' and we can’t really count him on the official roster or Coulson will shit cute little Agent kittens.” 

“Hold up. The Winter Soldier? So no…” He gestures to his own head vaguely to crassly indicate Barnes' ordeal with HYDRA and she makes a slight sound of distress in response. “Okay so a little…” 

“Yeah, a little, but it’s okay now. Stevie got him back for us.” She speaks with such _trust_ and love about Steve that Tony has no doubt that they’re banging or something. Feelings could be involved. He’s not sure. In fact, he doesn’t try to think about it right now. However, her obvious feelings for Steve gives him pause and he looks up from his inspection of her arc reactor to meet her steady gaze. He doesn’t want to go down that line of questioning and he certainly doesn’t want to think about the implication and what he’ll never have here in his own universe. Some emotional pains aren’t even worth the question. 

“Please tell me you have a Pepper or I’ll know that my universe trumps yours even if the whole… thing… happened here.” He gestures vaguely indicating the Accords and fall out thereafter. In answer to the Pepper question, she visibly perks up as he steps out of his own suit so they are on a more even playing ground though she didn’t seem too concerned that Tony was going to hurt her to start. 

“Because, let me tell you, you are _way_ too put together to be without a Pepper,” he continues and attempts to make a joke out of it but he truly thinks that Pepper may have been his saving grace had they been able to stay together. 

“I have a Pepper. We were together. For a while. You know, it didn’t work. She cared too much and I… well, I didn’t care enough. When I realized I really, actually, no-takebacksies loved her… it was too late.” She shrugs but she can’t hide the glimmer of self-hate that Tony knows so intimately. 

“I don’t think any of us deserve our Pepper,” he murmurs but doesn’t let the mood linger and then plops down on his chair. Girl-Tony smiles in what Tony can only imagine is bitter-sweet agreement. 

“Right, so. Unpleasant walk down memory lane aside, let’s talk about why I’m here.” Girl-Tony deflects like him and he snorts because it's so obviously a deflection but he doesn’t call her on it. Every Tony should be allowed their defenses.

“I’m all ears,” he says and kicks his legs up on the table next to him which puts him at an awkward position of extremely lounged back but he doesn’t look like he cares-- it's an affectation of mannerisms, really. Girl-Tony seems to know and only gives him a patient smile. Fucking Steve must really come with some perks in the emotional stability department. 

“Would you believe me if I said it was an accident?” She raises her hands in a semi-surrender motion when Tony arches an eyebrow that clearly says ‘I don’t believe you.’ “Okay, fine. It was worth a shot.” She seems to understand what he is saying with that particular look. “I’m here because… I need you to take care of something for me. HYDRA is mobilizing in my world and it’s not safe and I need a Tony to care for something of mine until we’re safe. It’s going to get very bad over there, Tony.” 

“War is never good,” he agrees. Tony’s playful lounge slumps a little and he drops his feet on the ground so he can sit upright and watch Girl-Tony seriously. “You’re me so you know I shouldn’t be the first choice in caring for any kind of precious cargo.”

Girl-Tony shakes her head. “You are the closest one to my universe and… I know _us_ and I know that you’re the best person to do this, Tony. I wouldn’t trust Steve or Bucky with this.”

“Bucky-- what?”

“It’s a long story,” she agrees, “just promise that you’ll do this for me.” 

It’s on the tip of his tongue to deny her any responsibility because he’s not sure how he is more trustworthy than _Captain Fucking America._ However, the denial dies on his lips because if he looks hard enough at her and past her Stark shields then he can truly see her. She’s a little more ragged than he realized at first. She even fooled him with the paparazzi smile. No wonder he looks so convincing when he pulls that same face. She desperately needs his help and Tony is going to be whatever she needs right now. 

“Okay, yes, okay. I promise that I will trust you, despite not knowing you, and also because you could potentially be an evil mirror version of myself and then pissing you off would be the last thing I’d want to do." He grins at her and crooks his finger at her. "What great responsibility? Gimmie. It’s mine, you said.” 

Her telltale smile says that she absolutely knows that he’s trying too hard but she reaches into her pocket for her Starkphone and _hello, sexy._ Tony hopes she’s giving him new tech but she only swipes her thumb across the screen and tilts the phone so it is horizontal. A hologram illuminates upwards and, at first, he doesn’t understand what he’s looking at. The picture is oddly dark like he’s looking at the inside of a waterbed or a water balloon. After a moment of the watery darkness, he sees a bean shape that blips briefly across the screen and then another on the opposite side and then it’s darkness again before those little white spots pop up once more. Holy shit. That's a sonogram. Girl-Tony is pregnant.

“What--”

“Congratulations Tony, you’re a mother! Father? Hm, I’m still working on that part.”

“N--”

She cuts him off with a slight shake of her head. “Tony, _please._ It has to be you. It’s not forever. It’s just for a few months until we can take care of HYDRA. I… I’m the Avengers’ biggest weakness and if they take me, they’ll be hurting more than just me.” 

He should absolutely say no. Tony knows that people like him shouldn’t be responsible for a couple of newborns even if they are sort of his kids. But, he can see the naked pain on Girl-Tony’s face and he knows that he absolutely would have done the same thing. He would have searched endlessly and tirelessly for a universe that was marginally safer than his own so he could send his kids there to be safe until they could come back home to him. 

She's watching him, waiting for an answer, but the small smile already forming at the corner of her lips tells him that she _knows_ he's going to accept. She knows him because he's her, after all. The closest universal match to her anyway. 

“Yeah… yeah, okay. I'll do it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This is my first published fic for this fandom. It's a WIP (boo, I know!) and I don't really have a posting schedule but I will try my best. I've never really done this sort of thing before but I wanted to try it out. I'm mostly touching lightly on the cinematic universe but a lot of it will be AU and such. Anddd I don't have a beta and all that fun stuff. Hope someone enjoys it anyway!


	2. Chapter 2

“Nope, I can’t do this. I can’t let you win.” 

“Tony,” Girl-Tony whines at him by holding out the ‘o’ so his name sounds more like ‘Toooony.’ 

“You’re a card shark, lady, and I don’t trust your bluff.” He rests his chin against the cool metal of the steel table and watches her from his newly slumped over position. Spread out in front of him is a card game in mid-play that looks like some Tony-specific variant of _Go Fish_ mixed with _Texas Hold ‘Em._

“Chickening out on me, Stark?” She folds her cards down on the table and then mimics his position so she can give him a cheeky grin. She’s been in his universe for less than a week now and yet she’s somehow made herself completely at home in Tony’s space. At first, it was difficult to adjust to someone else existing in his big empty tower when he was so used to being alone. Going from Pepper, to a whole team, and then back to one has given him a bit of whiplash so bunking again is weird but not entirely unwelcome. 

Because he doesn’t answer her snark immediately, as he’s lost in his wayward thoughts, she tilts her head and studies him like he’s one of her machines-- a problem to be solved. Behind him, the workshop fills with the ambient noise of his bots whirling and zooming around the room. To Tony, the sounds of machines around him is as comforting as the taste of velvety smooth liquor and the smell of his mother’s favorite perfume. 

“Tony?” She asks and then stands up so she can move to his side. She rests her hand on Tony’s shoulder and then leans against him just a bit so he can help support her weight when he sits up. He knows that Girl-Tony’s body hurts her all the time now but she hasn’t complained. There’s not a specific area of discomfort but more of a general ache throughout her body as it changes to accommodate babies.

“I’m here. Just thinking..” he murmurs. She doesn’t need to know the lonely path of Tony’s thoughts. Instead of clarifying what he’s thinking about, he reaches out to touch her but then lets his hand hover just above the fabric of her shirt instead. He’s not quite brave enough to just _touch_. Sensing his unease, Girl-Tony rests her palm on top of his hand and presses the warmth of his hand along the line of her stomach. Her bump is barely there but she appreciates the touch all the same. 

Boy-Tony sucks in a shuddery breath. She’s slender and compact like him so he can already feel the firmness of her body. He has to drop his hand so he can gently dislodge her using-him-as-support position. There’s _babies_ in there. He’s a man of science and it’s still hard to just comprehend that they’re going to be responsible for two living, breathing humans. Mercifully, she doesn’t poke or prod for what’s on his mind. Instead, Girl-Tony gives him his space and wanders around the workshop for something else to do. This isn’t the first time Tony has gotten lost in his thoughts and it won’t be his last. He’s always been one to really take ‘big responsibility’ to heart. 

“Hey, is that a new coffee machine? Are you holding out on me?” She easily changes the topic in the face of his reticence and crosses the workshop so she can play with all of the buttons and whistles on the machine. The card game and heavy thoughts from earlier are easily tucked away for later. 

Tony snorts in answer and he’s grateful for the change in subject. “Uh, no. That’s been there since you Apparated in here a couple of weeks ago.” 

Girl-Tony snorts and then grabs a coffee cup from next to the machine and drops the mug neatly onto the plate beneath the funnel so she can start some coffee for herself. “Bruce said I can have one cup of caffeine a day so this better be worth it, Boy-Me.” As she talks, she rummages around in the drawers so she can find coffee making supplies. In the second drawer, she finds coffee filters, some odds-and-ends, and an odd low-tech cellphone. It looks like a burner. Girl-Tony plucks the phone out of the drawer and turns to look at Tony wordlessly. 

He knows something is wrong because her chatter about this-and-that and how he really needs to clean up his tools and not let them mix with the silverware because _that is a hazard, Stark_ has stopped. She sounds like she’s repeating something that a certain super soldier would say. Before he can linger on the thought of Steve being a mother hen, he catches sight of the phone and then freezes only to wordlessly meet her eyes and wait for whatever it is brewing in her thoughts. 

“If you’re a drug dealer then I’m going to find another universe.” She’s blunt and ruthless and Tony absolutely would have asked the same question with equal sharp efficiency. 

“No, that’s not… fuck, you had a Howard. You think I’d do that?” 

“You drink, don’t you?” 

Tony averts his gaze in response and it’s answer enough for her if her grim smile is anything to go by. Tonys and their love of alcohol is a universal constant, it seems. The Stark disease. 

“Yeah okay, fine. But, I’m not a drug dealer or whatever you’re thinking. Steve gave me that… after… you know what, just hand me that! You’re like the annoying thirty-seconds-younger twin sister I never wanted. Gimmie.” 

She holds the phone out to him but doesn't move from her position of guarding the coffee pot until it gives her the delicious burst of caffeine she desperately needs. Tony whines at her again but scoots his rolling desk-chair over a little at a time, inch by inch, until he can snatch the phone back from her. 

“You look like a turtle on a skateboard when you shimmy like that,” she tells him. She's so quick to tease him. At first it felt surreal but now it's normal. He meant what he said about her being the twin sister he didn't want-- but maybe the one he needed. 

“What? Don't you have better things to do like being a pregnant lady? How do you do that anyway?” He kicks his heels out like a propeller so he can zoom his chair back to the safety of the table where their card game has been forgotten. 

“Nope,” she pops the 'p’ just to irritate him and then turns to grab her coffee mug that’s now steaming with delicious caffeine goodness. 

“Whatever.” He spins the chair around but then smacks his feet to the ground after one rotation to stop himself from spinning again. “Hey! We should get Chinese food for dinner.”

“Good idea, Mini-Me, but first... coffee!” 

He makes a face at that because is _he_ the mini-me or would Girl-Tony be the mini-me? Who was first? Then, he realizes that she’s got him going in thought circles so she can drink her coffee in peace. Devious. 

Girl-Tony is a constant source of… something that’s hard to describe. She's a genius but steadfast in not revealing any tech improvements and potentially unbalancing Tony’s universe. She's encouraging but not patronizing and she's definitely not perfect by any means. Like him, she looks too hard at the liquor bottles on display and she asks uncomfortable questions that he doesn't want to answer. The most perplexing thing is, she's always _there_ when he tries to escape into the workshop and she tends to grab onto something that strikes her interest like a dog to bone and she’s particularly difficult to dissuade. She’s like a terrier at times. Which is why he has a feeling that she’s not going to give up on ‘Steve and the creepy drug dealer burner phone.’ 

He calls for Friday to order their Chinese food as he heads upstairs to a common room so he can prepare for their movie watching binge and Chinese food consumption. Though, he really should take a shower because they were playing with actual car engines earlier so he’s got a bit of grease on him. The cars were before the card came and before they tried to reprogram his tablet into a battle arena for a holographic apocalyptic-style _Hungry Hungry Hippo_ game.

Tony is quick to set-up a blanket fort in the common room after he leaves Girl-Tony to her love affair with the coffee machine. Once the fort is ready, he goes upstairs so he can take a quick shower until food arrives. When he returns downstairs, Girl-Tony has commandeered the living room floor (not that there’s anyone else at the tower to complain) and is sitting cross-legged with pillows and blankets all around with food containers spread out on the floor. The couch cushions are upright with a fitted sheet snapped tightly against the corners with haphazardly draped sheets between cushions to form a tent. On the screen, Friday is cycling through the movie options so they can pick something else to watch. All-in-all, it’s almost _normal_. It’s been so long since Tony has done something like this for the pure enjoyment of it. 

Girl-Tony casually leans back on her elbows and gives Tony a look when he finally settles down on the cushions beside her. 

“So, we gonna talk about why you and Stevie are on the outs? And don’t give me that Siberia crap. Can’t bullshit a bullshitter.” 

He neatly chokes on his noodles and Friday is considerate enough to pause scrolling through movie titles so a desperately coughing Tony doesn't miss anything. 

“Uh, but that’s literally… okay, try this then: ‘Stevie’ no likey me. He likey Bucky. Now here we are eating Chinese food in the living room in an empty tower with a stunt double from another universe.”

She eyes him for a moment before shrugging and then stabbing her fork forcibly into the fragile plastic of the box, clearly unhappy with that answer. She finishes off her noodles and then licks the back of her fork so she can point it Tony and wave it around for good measure to emphasize her point while she speaks. “My Stevie likes Bucky and we're fine.”

“Yeah? Steve your baby daddy then?” 

In lieu of answering, she shoves the empty carton into Tony's hands and then rolls over on her side to stretch out and grab the burner phone she tucked under a couch when Tony went upstairs to shower. 

“Hey! That's mine!” 

Tony sets the food carton down and tries to clamor up her body (mindful not to hurt her or accidentally kick baby beans) and tries to play grabby hands with the phone. Girl-Tony has no such reservations of Tony's body being a temple and she knees him in the stomach and then lurches up onto her feet so she can skid down the hall on slippery socks with the phone clutched to her chest. 

“Fucking--” Tony grunts, winded, and then stands up at a slower pace to make his way down the hallway and find which room she's gone to. “Friday, where is she?” 

“No can do, boss! Miss Stark asked me to keep quiet. As a genetic match and, therefore an authorized administrator, I'm unable to 'give her up.’ Sorry!” Friday is chipper with the right echoes of sass but she's so obviously an AI. She's not Jarvis and it hurts. He doesn’t even like talking to her all that much because she’s not who he wants her to be. The pain of losing Jarvis settles in his bones like the ache of arthritis before a storm-- constant and forever. 

Meanwhile, Girl-Tony hides in Tony's bedroom at the bottom-left of the closet next to his _numerous_ shoes. She’s quiet as she flicks the phone on and waits for it to boot up. Where did someone find a phone like this anyway? It's surprisingly fast considering its basic hardware. After several moments, the screen finally flickers to life and then buzzes several times indicating a long string of received text messages. 

Outside, she can hear Tony cursing her disappearing act but he still doesn't come into his room. The phone doesn’t look like it’s been turned on all that much because the wallpaper is still generic enough to have come with the phone and the mysterious text message sender doesn’t have a name saved as the contact. A quick glance through the time stamp on the text messages show they start as early as three months ago and end as recently as today. This morning, exactly. 

She starts with the first one: 

_Tony, I know you're mad at me but we should really talk. I don't want to have this conversation over text._

_Bucky's doing okay. He looks… lost. Some days he doesn't recognize me. Hope you're well._

_He wants to go back into sleep._

_Was it worth it?_

_You're… an idiot, Tony. I wish…_

_Natasha thinks we should come back and properly talk and read some things over. Surely there's somewhere we can agree?_

_Everyone is home now. Everyone but Bucky and… me. I think the world needs the Avengers but Bucky needs me._

_Bucky doesn't want to see me anymore. Said I should find you and apologize properly. We should talk._

_This is the last message I'm going to send you because we should really talk in person so I'm coming back to find you._

She blinks in surprise. Looks like Boy-Tony has maybe been holding out on her when he said that Steve doesn’t like him. As if summoned by thought alone, Tony yanks open the closet door and she blinks owlishly at him at the sudden light streaming into the closet. 

“There you are. Hey, what if you went into labor in my closet? I had a friend in boarding school who had a dog that gave birth in his closet and got stuff all over-- why do you look like someone kicked your puppy? Okay, the dog metaphors are out of hand…”

She pushes the sliding closet doors open further and holds the phone out to him. “I found this on the floor.” 

Tony gives her a class A disbelief and amusement eyeroll because he was definitely there when she ran away with the phone earlier. Not to be persuaded, she lets Tony take the phone out of her hand and then she grabs his wrist so she can pull herself upright and out of the closet. “Heh, haven’t been in the closet for a long time.” 

He helps her up but doesn’t laugh at the terrible joke because the open text messages catch his attention instead and he reads through them. 

“Tones,” Boy-Tony whispers her name hoarsely. He’s never actually addressed her as anything but Girl-Me or Mini-Me so she knows that he’s been shaken by the messages. That’s the nickname that Rhodey gives her when he’s exhausted and just needs some hot chocolate and for her to talk to him about her day. 

“Yeah?” 

“I can’t-- I can’t--” he sucks in a shuddering breath and looks at her with such helplessness that she’s not sure what to do or how to help. “Can you … I don’t…” 

She knows that look. She knows what it's like to simultaneously want to hit something, to put on the suit and go a round with something that _hurts_ and also want to curl up in a blanket burrito. Either way, she's not going to let him do that anymore.

“Hey, I have an idea. We should clean up the mess downstairs, watch some girly movies, and eat our feelings in ice cream? How does that sound? Boys are dumb. Help me up, Mini-Me.” 

“That sounds terrible,” he tries to say but at her _excuse me what_ look, he doesn't finish that thought and instead walks with her to the common room where they abandoned their blanket fort. 

“Want to maybe talk about it? Feelings and shit?” She asks as they pass through the hallway together. As soon as they’re back at their blanket fort, she picks up empty cartons to throw away and grabs two pints of ice cream out of the freezer and two spoons out of the drawer on the way out and then makes her way back to plop down beside Boy-Tony who is partially hidden by the cushions and blankets. 

Tony looks up at her from his spot on the floor and then takes the ice cream and spoon she places on the ground next to him. Together, they crack open their treats and dig in while Friday picks one of Tony’s favorite movies and starts _The Boondock Saints_ in the background without being asked. Amongst the sounds of gunshots and copious uses of the word ‘fuck’ during the movie, Tony manages to eat half of the ice cream with his cheek resting against Girl-Tony’s shoulder. 

“So. You and Steve?” 

“There is no ‘me and Steve.’” He says quietly and then scoops up a liberal spoonful of ice cream so he can lick it off before it slides off the edge of the utensil. Melty ice cream is his favorite. 

“Well, there’s something between you, right? I read those messages.” 

“Ugh,” he whines, “he’s never said those things _to_ me before so how do I know? Steve talks _at_ me and expects me to be a good soldier and salute.” 

She hums in agreement and watches the characters on the movie drinking in a bar just as a bar fight breaks out. Then, she digs her spoon into the cartoon and shrugs. Encouraged by her newfound listening skill, Tony does as Tony likes to do and fills the conversational silence on his own. 

“I mean, yeah. I thought we were friends, right? We started out pretty rocky but things… they got better-ish. I mean, not perfect, obviously but… better. We watched movies. Had dinner. Started to talk about things that didn’t include the team. It was nice.” Tony’s expressive eyes take in the movie while he chats-- his gaze bounces from character to character as they argue over something on screen. “Then he went dark with Natasha and didn’t come back the same after we found out that HYDRA infiltrated SHIELD and… then Barnes showed up and that’s all she fucking wrote.” 

He realizes that her silence is not just that of a friend wanting him to get his emotions out. Her spoon is paused halfway to her mouth and she’s watching him with wide eyes. Ice cream slowly drips off of the edge of the spoon and he instinctively holds his hand out to catch the falling sugary drops.

“Oh. You didn’t know about HYDRA and SHIELD having a demon baby, huh?”

“No…no, I didn’t.” 

He licks his palm and makes a face at the mix of sweet ice cream and the saltiness of human skin. “Yeah, that happened. Steve and Natasha handled that themselves though. The rest of us had our own problems going on. We’re a shitty team, to be honest.” 

She’s distracted. He can tell that something is on her mind. Her genius-level brain is processing whatever he said about HYDRA and SHIELD. It doesn’t take him long to figure out that maybe, just _maybe_ Girl-Tony, her Wonder-Boyfriend, and their team didn’t realize that HYDRA infiltrated SHIELD. Maybe it’s a constant throughout not only Tony’s universe but other ones, too. 

“You need to go back home,” he says quietly, realization dawning on him without her having to tell him outright. “You need to go back and root out HYDRA.” Tony drops his spoon into the mostly empty container and stands up so he can take her ice cream out of her hands and help her up, too. On the screen behind him, the characters are arguing over a rope and then falling through the ceiling but it’s all white noise to him right now. 

He gets her moving out of the living room and towards the workshop so she can grab her belt of technological goodies that he’s not allowed to play with yet. 

“Tony," she says as she’s calibrating the transportation device in her hands. He tilts his head up at the sound of his name and watches her-- waiting for her to finish. "I’ll be back _soon_ , okay? Talk to Steve. Just... I’ll be back, I swear. I promise you. I’ll be back and you’ll tell me why you supposedly aren’t head-over-heels in love with Steve and we’ll work on the Bucky thing. I just… I have to tell them. They don’t know about…” 

He nods. “Okay. I… I’ll be here. Give ‘em hell, Stark.” 

She visible gathers herself together and gives him a thumbs up just as the particles swirl and take her away. 

And then he’s alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boop, boop, boop beam me up Scotty-- wait, wrong fandom. Steve should make an appearance in the next chapter!


End file.
